


(let me see you) stripped down to the bone

by Dawn_Blossom



Series: Chrom/Grima in Askr [10]
Category: Fire Emblem Heroes
Genre: Chrom towel dries Grima, Grima tries to be helpful but it doesn't go well, M/M, don't worry it ends up being okay, feat. the standard mushy emotional nonsense you've probably come to expect from my fics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-10-14 20:59:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17515796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dawn_Blossom/pseuds/Dawn_Blossom
Summary: Grima ends up banned from the onsen.





	(let me see you) stripped down to the bone

**Author's Note:**

> Can somebody please tell me why the Splashy Bucket+ is effective against dragons??? Was it just to spite me and my Grimas personally, or...?
> 
> Anyway, I had an image in my head of Grima being sad and dripping wet, and then I had an even better image of Chrom drying him off, and I was like... I'm a fanfic writer... I could work with this...
> 
> I think there's a correlation between my stress levels and my desire for mushy romantic nonsense. And so, since a new semester just started and I'm highkey worried about everything... lo and behold, I've written more mushy romantic nonsense ^^
> 
> Title is from the song Stripped, originally by Depeche Mode but I always listen to [the cover by Shiny Toy Guns.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEkLU2AiJCs) It's on my Chrom/Grima playlist for legitimate emotional reasons, but I thought that particular line would work well for a fic featuring towel drying ^^;;;

Grima won’t admit it aloud, but he loves hot springs. The warm water is not merely good for his muscles; for some reason the heat seeps past just his flesh and into his very core. His memories of being sealed in darkness never cease to weigh on him, but when he is enveloped in the waters of a hot spring, it is hard to recall what the cold even feels like.

And though he says not a word of this to his lover, Chrom, ever attentive to him, understands immediately that the draw is beyond Grima’s control. The first time they stumbled across one (after what Kiran calls a “tap battle,” though Grima himself would call it a “synchronization drill”), Chrom had found a way to separate the two of them from the rest of their team before Grima even had a chance to realize that it was exactly what he wanted. He cannot allow just anyone to see him like this, soft and subdued and entirely unlike a god. But Chrom, of course, he cannot hide from.

Not that he would want to. The hot springs are always good. Chrom’s arms around him are always better.

They head out to the springs once a month, at least in the cold seasons. They have already been this month, which is why Grima is surprised when Chrom suggests they go again… Though this time it is to a different one, a managed bathhouse rather than a purely natural wonder.

Grima does not like how crowded it is. Because it is run by some of the more popular heroes from the kingdoms of Nohr and Hoshido, just about everyone in the Order of Heroes is raring to visit it. Fortunately, there are a few private baths available, although they must wait for them.

Therein lies the problem: Chrom and Grima are not the only ones waiting, and many of the other heroes have no patience whatsoever. Especially when they are literal children.

“Hey, Kana, over here!” the female Kana calls to her male counterpart. Their small bodies allow them to easily weave between the other patrons, and they are gleefully taking advantage of it to play some kind of game.

“Catch!” The male Kana throws something high into the air, and the female Kana has to sprint halfway across the room to catch it.

“Wait…” Grima narrows his eyes as the object catches the light. “Is that… a dragonstone?”

The female Kana runs past him with a giggle, and he can see more clearly that it _is_ a dragonstone, specifically the one owned by the female Corrin they met in the world of dreams.

“Hey,” he growls, stepping forward. “What do you think you’re doing?”

The girl yelps as he catches her arm. 

“Let go of me!” she squeals. “I’ll tell Papa you’re being mean!”

“I am not afraid of your father,” Grima sneers. He despises every Corrin he has met. They are dragons by blood, but they care nothing for dragonkind. Their hearts belong to humanity. 

Still, he cannot stop himself from feeling concern for them, for what their humanity will bring them. They are dragons, but they do not know how to behave like them. And their children, who are also dragons, understand even less the situation they are in.

“You are going to break that stone,” Grima continues. “The consequences would be dire.”

Not just any stone can be used as a dragonstone. It must have both the strength to amplify and the durability to suppress the dragon’s true power. None of the dragons in the Order are from this world, and this Corrin in particular may not even be more than a child’s dream given life. If her stone were to break, there is a very real possibility that it could not be replaced by anything this realm can offer.

“Little Azura gave us that!” the male Kana exclaims. “She told us to give it to dreamy Mama! You can’t have it!”

“I’ll give it to her,” Grima says. “You clearly can’t be trusted with it.”

He reaches for the stone in the girl’s hand, but she partially transforms her arm into the limb of a dragon, surprising him into loosening his grip. She yanks herself away.

“No way!” she shouts. “You’re the one who can’t be trusted! We all know you’re just jealous that the other dragons don’t wanna play with you! You’ll hide it and not give it back!”

“Oh, is that what you think?” Grima can feel a hand grasp his shoulder, but he does not turn around. He glowers at the child instead. She cannot comprehend the true reason for Grima’s contempt, but he would have hoped that she would not so easily believe he would purposely harm an ally.

The female Kana screams, then throws the stone at the male Kana.

“Run!” she cries.

And her male counterpart complies.

“Get back here!” Grima demands, following after. The boy runs into one of the bathing rooms, but Grima isn’t going to let his lack of proper bathing attire stop him from catching the child before he actually does break something.

“Er, wait!” he hears Chrom shout. “Grima, you—”

The door shuts behind him, cutting off whatever Chrom was going to say.

“Mama, Mama, Mama!” Kana cries. “Don’t let him take the dragonstone!”

Grima’s eyes go first to Kana’s face, then to Corrin’s, then… down, to the smooth skin of her… unclothed body…

Oh. Perhaps that was what Chrom was yelling about.

Corrin screams. She is not the only woman in the bath, either, and so the sound quickly turns into a chorus of voices. Grima, unfortunately, is stiff with shock, and he clearly does not get out quickly enough for the women’s tastes.

The next thing he knows, a bucket of water is being slammed over his head.

It is perhaps the iciest water he has ever had the misfortune of coming into contact with. He is soaked to the bone within seconds. His hair flattens down, sticking to his scalp, and his clothing feels ten pounds heavier with all the water it has absorbed. He is so cold that he cannot keep his body from shivering, and the anger he felt towards the Kanas washed away with the water. He opens his mouth to try to explain himself, but what is the point? Corrin will side with her crying child, regardless of the fact that she surely would not have wanted her dragonstone flying around. Nobody else will side with him, either, when all they saw is him chasing Kana into his mother’s arms. He would not have harmed the boy… yet he does not think anyone will care to take notice.

He still has not moved. He wonders if he looks pathetic, because he certainly feels that way.

“Get the hell out of our onsen!” Hinoka, clad in only a towel, finally shouts. Unwilling to watch him stand there foolishly any longer, she shoves him out the door.

Grima decides to oblige her.

* * *

“I’m sorry,” Chrom says as soon as they are outside. Sakura, at least, had seen it fit to give them a towel before they went, and though she said that Hinoka did not truly mean her words, Grima will certainly ensure that Chrom is the one to return it.

Grima sits on the steps without saying a word. His actions could, perhaps, be considered sulking… But he does not want to consider why a mere splash of water has rendered him so emotionally weak.

So he is not sulking. He is merely in thought. He will have to adjust his schedule to allow time for extra laundering, after all. He has stripped away the soaked clothing from his torso, but for decency’s sake he opted to keep his legs covered. They are cold against his skin, but perhaps they will dry now that he is in the open air. In any case, he will change completely once he is back at the castle.

“I should have said something sooner,” Chrom continues. He presses the towel against Grima’s back, massaging it gently. It is an apology that Grima does not need, for there is nothing Chrom could have done to change Grima’s actions. But the gesture feels so good that Grima can’t resist leaning into Chrom’s touch.

“I don’t know why I bothered,” Grima tries to say casually, though it comes out more on the bitter side. 

“I do,” Chrom says. “The game those children were playing was dangerous.”

“What business of mine was it if they damaged the stone?” Grima mutters. “I should have ignored them.”

“It would be everyone’s business if one of our allies lost a unique weapon,” Chrom says. “Grima, you know exactly why you did it.”

The words would sound harsh if Chrom were not simultaneously caressing Grima’s shoulders with his towel-wrapped hands..

“Hmm…” Grima sighs, though he doesn’t refute the statement. “But I should have left it to you. You are better at it than me.”

“Better at what, scolding children?” Chrom chuckles.

Grima could laugh as well, laugh and let the terrible weight of his emotions fade away. But something about the situation compels him not to let the matter drop so easily.

Chrom moves the towel around to Grima’s chest, but Grima grabs onto his hands before he can do anything.

“I meant that you’re better at actually helping others,” Grima says. “They accept your aid. They do not see ulterior motives from you, and you do not have any. You are the best person to trust in this world. You… are the only person that I fully trust.”

“Grima…” Chrom’s eyes widen; even his pupils seem to expand. “You... “

Though his mouth remains open, he cannot seem to phrase his thoughts.

“I suppose I don’t compliment you enough if you’re that surprised,” Grima says. He looks down, well aware that he does not in fact compliment Chrom very often.

“You don’t need to say the words,” Chrom says. He squeezes Grima’s hands gently. “Your feelings are enough.”

“Are they…?” Grima closes his eyes. He still does not understand how his feelings for Chrom came to be, but he knows for certain that they are not going to go away. Indeed, they grow stronger every day.

“Yes,” Chrom says. “Because I trust you, too. Wholeheartedly.”

When Chrom leans in, Grima expects the kiss, and so he meets Chrom’s lips without having to open his eyes. If they truly are halves of a whole as Chrom says, as Grima likes to believe, then how can they do anything but mirror each other? And if everything Grima feels is felt in equal measure by Chrom…

Grima smiles as he pulls away.

“I’d freeze without you,” he says. He is not referring to his actual temperature, which is quickly returning to normal now that he is mostly dry. The warmth Chrom brings him is not like the heat he can get from a hot bath, but he feels it equally deep in his core.

Chrom cups a hand against Grima’s cheek, but he does not say anything.

Grima doesn’t mind. It seems that feelings truly can be enough.


End file.
